DAY TO DAY PLAN
Day 1 – 10 hour drive
| 0830 |
Depart Kathmandu by private bus. Drive approx 10 hours. Lunch en route |
| 1930 |
Dinner at Bhalubang or Lamahi. Overnight simple lodge |
Day 2 - Arrive at river
| 0630 |
Wake up call - simple breakfast |
| 0730 |
Depart - drive for approx. six hours.
Lunch en-route. Turn north off Mahendra Highway, begin winding drive up to Surkhet |
| 1330 |
Arrive Surkhet (aka Birhendranagar) Road/track now rougher and steeper. Last 4 kms completed on foot using porters for all heavy equipment |
| 1530 |
Arrive at river. Inflate rafts, to camp on downstream far bank
|
Day 3 (river-day 1)
| 0630 |
Wake-up call with tea and coffee |
| 0730 |
Breakfast. |
| 0830 |
Comprehensive instruction on drills including all river safety aspects and demos, plus camp procedures, stowage and securing of loads etc |
| 1030 |
Cast off and raft for 2 hours - gentle water throughout first stretch of river |
| 1230 |
Lunch |
| 1330 |
Raft 3 hours. First major rapid encountered 1 hour later - good grade IV. Then rapids increasing in number, length and power. |
| 1630 |
The night’s dramatic campsite lies on river-right, a beach overhung by a great grey/brown crag |
Day 4 (river-day 2)
| 0730 |
Wake-up call with tea and coffee |
| 0800 |
Breakfast. Take down camp. Set-up rafts |
| 1000 |
Raft for 2 hours. Flat to start with, then livening! Overall grade IV-IV+. After a shallow/obtuse (right-hand) bend, river steepens to an obviously difficult section on another equally obtuse (left-hand) bend. Inspect river left. An easy rapid leads to a huge river-centre boulder/pour-over with tricky lead-in. Grade IV-IV+. Main Rapids: "Human for Lunch", Class III+, "Jailhouse Rock", Class V |
|
| 1200 |
Lunch |
| 1300 |
Raft 2 to 3 hours. Good, bouncy, playful rapids |
| 1301 |
Set-up camp on river right, on beautiful beach. Downstream lies a village with friendly locals. The night is filled with the roar of tomorrow’s 1st rapid
|
| 1600 |
Day 5 (river-day 3) |
| 0730 |
Wake-up call with tea and coffee |
| 0800 |
Breakfast. Take-down camp. Set-up rafts |
| 1000 |
Raft for 2 hours. Main rapid: "God's House" - Grade V |
| 1200 |
Lunch |
| 1300 |
Raft - quickly into big rapids. Main rapids: "Rafter's Trap", Class IV, "Flip & Strip" - Class IV, and "Lost Mutt", Class III+. A short but terrific day’s rafting |
| 1430 |
Set-up camp early on good beach river right |
Day 6 (river-day 4)
| 0700 |
Wake-up call with tea and coffee |
| 0800 |
Breakfast. Take down camp. Set
up rafts |
| 0945 |
Raft 2 to 3 hours. The day
consists of easier rapids and a
lazy drift on the fast-flowing
current. Laid back, we cruise
through Red Rock Canyon. |
| 1200 |
Lunch |
| 1300 |
Raft for 2 hours again through
beautiful stretch of easy, fast
water |
| 1500 |
Set-up camp on river right on large
beach below a small settlement |
Day 7 ( Lay-over Day - river-day 5)
| 0700 |
Wake-up call with tea and coffee |
| 0800 |
Breakfast |
NB This lay-over day can actually be used anytime en route or alternatively it can be making camp at midday and moving on the next afternoon. It is sometimes applied to local exploration, it is sometimes about relaxing after particularly strenuous/high adrenalin whitewater encounters, and if used as here, on river
day 5, it is a break from the sometimes soporific gentle drift which is a characteristic of these final stretches. It has even been utilised for remedying raft wear and tear! |
Day 8 (river-day 6)
| 0630 |
Wake-up call with tea and coffee. |
| 0730 |
Breakfast. Take down camp. Set-up rafts |
| 0900 |
Raft for 3 hours - easy rapids all the way - Grade I-II |
| 1200 |
Lunch |
| 1300 |
Raft for 3 1/2 hours - rapids easy for experts, then more fast, flat water, more paddling and catching the current to drift us on down towards journey’s end |
| 1630 |
Set-up final beach camp |
Day 9 - Take-out day and Bardia
| 0730 |
Wake-up call |
| 0800 |
Breakfast. Take down camp. Set up rafts |
| 0930 |
Raft - a gentle drift and paddle - to Chisapani where the towering suspension bridge across the east-west Mahendra Highway comes into view |
| 1100 |
Rendezvous with our private transport. Deflation of rafts, packing and stowing of equipment. |
| 1200 |
Lunch |
| 1330 |
Drive to Bardia National Wildlife Park |
| 1500 |
Settle into lodge accommodation.
Briefing on the Park and its wildlife. |
| 1900 |
Dinner |
Day 10 – Bardia Wildlife Reserve
| 0700 |
Wake-up call |
| 0730 |
Breakfast |
| 0830 |
Full day’s wildlife encounter with break for lunch |
| 1900 |
Dinner |
Day 11 – Flight to Kathmandu
| 0730 |
Wake-up call |
| 0800 |
Breakfast. Prepare to leave. |
| 1200 |
Drive 1.5 hours to Nepalganj
Fly to Kathmandu. END OF EXPEDITION. |
Meals: B,L,D from lunch on Day 1 until breakfast on Day 11
|
